


The Deal

by Sauffie



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-23 05:42:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6106789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sauffie/pseuds/Sauffie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an imaginary follow-up to 5.15. The last 10 minutes of the episode were so intense, so beautiful, so full of Marvey feels, I HAD to write something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Deal

“Where’s Mike?”, Harvey asks, giving a cursory glance around the room.

He doesn’t get what Rachel replies because all he sees is that Mike’s not here and there’s a sudden painful clench in his guts. He knows. He instantly figures out where Mike is or rather what Mike is about to do and he can’t let that happen. He knows for sure because he would have done the same had Donna not persuaded him to wait for the verdict, to come here and show Mike he had faith in him.

“I have to go”, he manages to mumble before running out of the suffocating courtroom.

He needs to run out of here because it suddenly feels like the walls are closing in, like he can’t breathe. He needs to run out of here to prevent Mike from doing the biggest mistake in his life. He needs to run out of here so Mike doesn’t go to prison, so he doesn’t lose Mike. He needs to run to the DA’s office building and tell Mike he has faith in him, never lost faith in him. He needs to tell Mike he always believed in him, that he thinks he’s a better lawyer than him, a better man than him and that the people of the jury must have seen it.

He stops for a second when he steps out of the courthouse to catch his breath but it doesn’t really help. His heart is racing in his chest and he can feel it pulsing in his temples, through his carotid artery all the way down to his fingertips. His lungs are already burning and he can’t remember having ever felt such a rush of fear, of stress. He can’t remember having ever been that _scared_. His jaw is tense and tiny beads of sweat are quickly forming on his forehead. He knows those symptoms, he’s familiar with panic attacks now. Except this time, he knows why he’s feeling that way, what’s overwhelming him and it has nothing to do with himself, his past, his future, it has to do with the one person that has stuck with him through thick and thin for the past 4 years. _Mike_.

“Damnit, Mike…”, he whispers through greeted teeth before starting running again.

Running is his only chance to get to Mike in time, taking a cab in the usual morning traffic would be suicidal, and he hopes to God it’s not already too late.

Of course the street is busier than ever, packed with people going to work, so he has to elbow his way (and that’s putting it mildly) through the endless stream of coats, briefcases and clinking heels.

_Move!_

He couldn’t run faster if he wanted to, he probably never has in his entire life, and the horrible thing is that he’s not even sure he can still save the day, he’s not even sure it’s not too late. How did he not see this coming? He knows Mike and his bleeding heart, he should have known he would cave and take a deal to protect the people he loves.

_Get the fuck out of my way!_

He’s not completely sure he’s even running in the right direction but his instincts tell him he is, so he wills his legs to run faster, not caring about wrinkling his suit for once in his life. In fact, he wishes he wasn’t wearing a suit right now because those fitted pants and brand new leather shoes make it hard for him to-

“Fuck!”, he exclaims, as he violently bumps shoulders with a man and looses his balance.

He feels himself hitting the ground as if in slow motion.

“Watch where you’re going”, the man snaps and rubs his shoulder disdainfully.

_You watch your mouth!_

“Sir?”, a young woman crouches down beside him. “Are you okay?”

Honestly, he’s not. Everything hurts. His hip and elbow from hitting the cold hard concrete first, and everything else from the shock coursing through his whole body.

“Yeah”, he nods jerkily and quickly gets back on his feet. “Thanks”, he nods again and resumes his race against time.

He’s pretty sure he ripped his jacket but he doesn’t care, doesn’t have time to think about that. He needs to stay focused and positive.

It’s still early, Mike cannot have been in there for long. He’s probably just entering the building and still wondering if it’s the right thing to do. Maybe he will take a minute to relax his nerves in the lobby before walking to the elevator. Maybe Anita Gibbs will be gone when he finally reaches her desk.

_Thank God!_

His instincts were right, he can see the building, he’s only a block away. Only a minute away from preventing a disaster from happening, from telling Mike that he has faith in him, that he is worthy, that he doesn’t want to lose him.

He climbs the stairs two at a time and runs through the large open doors. He dodges the security guard and runs to the elevators.

_Fuck!_

The cabin doors slide shut right in front of him despite his attempt at holding them.

Resting his forehead against the cool metal doors for a moment, he swallows thickly and closes his eyes. He’s going to have to run up the stairs to the 7th floor and though he can already feel his legs wobbling, he exhales sharply through his nose and braces himself before running to the staircase.

He grabs the handle and takes off his jacket before taking the steps two, three, four at a time as his ringtone echoes loudly in the deserted stairwell.

_Please, let it not be too late. Please._

After what felt like an eternity, he finally reaches the 7th floor and stops dead in his track when he opens the door leading to the offices.

Anita Gibbs’ office is the first door on the right and Harvey’s heart skips a beat when he spots Mike sitting at her desk through the glass wall.

_God damnit, Mike!_

Gathering every last ounce of energy he can find, Harvey walks to the glass door and swings it open.

“Don’t say another word, Mike”, he orders breathlessly as both their heads turn to him.

“I’m afraid you’re too late, Mr. Specter”, Anita Gibbs smirks.

“What are you doing here, Harvey?”, Mike asks and all Harvey can see is the pen he’s holding.

Once again the walls start closing in on him.

_Mike signed a deal. I am too fucking late._

“What did you do?”, he whispers, covering his mouth with his hand.

“Mr. Ross just signed a paper stipulating that he confesses to having practiced law for 4 years without a degree and that he agrees to spend 2 years behind bars and never practice law again”, Gibbs replies, filing the incriminating paper in a folder. “You should thank him”, she adds with a devilish smile. “He asked that it be written that I won’t go after you _specifically_.”

“Mike…”

“Harvey”, Mike gets up from his chair and takes a step towards Harvey. “It’s over. This whole thing’s finally over.”

Harvey inhales deeply and leans against the wall as he feels his legs eventually giving out on him.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to call the judge to tell him we won’t need a verdict after all”, she says, picking up her phone. “Mr. Ross, you have 24 hours to get your affairs in order and turn yourself in. I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow morning at 9.”

“Let’s go”, Mike grabs Harvey’s elbow and all but drags him out of the office.

Harvey doesn’t have the energy to show resistance, his whole body feeling the effect of his run, the tumble he took and the utterly devastating news he just heard. He lets Mike drag him back to the elevators and it’s only when they’re inside the cabin that he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“What the fuck did you do?”, he asks, his tone pleading and weary.

Mike is looking down at his shoes, probably only realizing now what he just agreed to.

“I had no other choice”, he whispers, shaking his head in resignedly. “I couldn’t win”, he says, a little louder but still not looking up. “I thought for a moment that maybe, like you said, one of jurors would think I was innocent or even just sympathize with me and let me go”, he shakes his head again. “But I saw it in your eyes”, he finally locks eyes with Harvey. “You didn’t believe what you said, you didn’t think we could win this.”

“Mike…”, is all Harvey can manage.

“2 years is nothing compared to what you, or _us,_ would have gotten if the jury had found me guilty”, Mike continues as the doors open to the lobby.

_2 years without you is an eternity._

The lobby is buzzing with activity but Harvey can’t hear a thing. Once again, things seem to be happening in slow motion as he watches Mike step out of the building, his face meeting the morning sun for one of the last times as a free man. He hates himself for not being able to form sentences, for not being able to tell Mike that he’d rather spend 10 years in prison instead of having to live one day without the man who counts the most in his life, the man who changed his life, who made him a better person. He hates himself for letting Mike take the blame of the both of them when he’s the one who offered the job to him in the first place.

“I need to tell Rachel”, Mike sighs. “And to get _my affairs in order_ ”, he adds with a hint of irony.

He turns around and gives Harvey the saddest, most compassionate yet full of gratefulness smile Harvey’s ever seen and it breaks Harvey’s heart into a million pieces.

“No.”

“Harvey, I took the deal, it’s over”, Mike smiles again and Harvey wants to wipe that smile off his face because he doesn’t deserve it, he deserves to be punished, not Mike.

“I believed in you”, Harvey clears his throat and that seems to get Mike’s attention because he raises an expectant eyebrow. “Since day once. I hired you because I believed in you. Even when you were working for Sidwell, I believed in you and your strategies and your caring tendencies and your friendship. I never doubted you for a second”, he says with all the conviction he can muster into those words. “You were always a lawyer to me and you always will be. You handled your trial perfectly and it’s not in you that I didn’t believe in, it was the jurors. I couldn’t put your fate in their hands. I had to do something”, he continues and it suddenly feels like he’d die on the spot if he stopped talking. “That’s why I tried to find another way to get out of this situation. I didn’t want you to even think about cutting a deal, I didn’t want you to worry, I wanted you to feel safe…”, he swallows around the lump forming in his throat. “I’m sorry I failed you. I-“

“Harvey”, Mike takes a step forward and looks deep into Harvey’s eyes. “You didn’t fail me. You gave me a chance to be what I’ve always wanted to be. You gave me a family, a job, a future. You didn’t fail me.”

Harvey bites the inside of his cheek and averts his gaze because he can’t bear to look at those bright blue eyes for one more second.

Mike reaches out and grabs Harvey’s hand.

“We took a gamble with this”, he says, squeezing it. “We always knew this would come down to this and to be honest, I always knew I would take the fall if it meant saving you because _that’s what goddamn loyalty is_ , isn’t it?”, he snorts.

“I can’t lose you”, Harvey shakes his head as tears threaten to fall from his eyes. “Mike, I can’t let you go away for two years…”

“It’s going to be okay”, Mike entangles his fingers with his.

“What about Rachel?”, Harvey asks but what he really wants to ask is _What about us?_

“You’ll visit me?”, Mike swallows visibly.

“Of course”, Harvey replies and tears roll down his cheeks. “Of course…”

Mike tightens his hold on Harvey’s hand and leans in.

“We’re going to be okay”, he whispers before planting a quick but soft and meaningful kiss on Harvey’s lips. “I promise.”


End file.
